#123 Whisper Network

 Whisper Network by Chandler Blake 

Another amazing Reeses Book Club pick! Whisper Network follows the story of 3 friends, Sloane, Grace and Ardie. They work for a corporation called Truviv as lawyers. The friends have been in each others lives a long time and tell each other everything. When the CEO of Truviv dies the man who is next in line for his job is their line manager Ames. There has always been a lot of rumours and gossip surrounding Ames both in his professional and personal life. When a list immerges known as the 'bad men' list which is a list created by professional women with the names of high ranking men that have harrassed them, made a pass at them, made innuendos etc, basically a list of men that are less than professional to their colleagues of the opposite sex. The purpose of the list is to make women in a professional capacity aware of these men so they know to avoid them. 

When a new female joins the team, the women begin to notice that Ames is targeting her, giving her extra attention they are immediatley wary that something untoward is going on. The women come together and decide that they dont want to let men like Ames away with this kind of behaviour anymore and they come together to stand up to Ames. The women raise a case against Ames and Truviv and everything begins to snowball from there. 

This book reminded me a lot of the film Bombshell which is based on a true story of the sexual harrassment received by female works at Fox News, if you havent watched the movie i highly recommend it. It is available on Prime Video. 

One thing i think could have been slightly improved upon was the lack of diversity, i know there was a few hispanic characters which was great to see but it felt very white washed in places, all the characters seemed to be living a corporate life which was pretty perfect from the outside looking in. 

All in all this book is a triumph for the #metoo movement, i enjoyed the themes of empowerment, friendship and standing up for what is right to be very powerful and emotive. I found the book to be so relatable in ways i never even imagined and it also made me so wary of what i will and will not accept going forward not just in my professional life but my personal life too. The author does a great job of pointing a subtle nod that this affects women everywhere. I also think its important to point out that the author points out that its not all men which is important too. I honestly couldnt put this book down! Chandler Blakes writing was phenomenal and i eagerly wait for her next book to come out!